The entire NBA world is ablaze once again with chatter around reigning two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his penchant for drawing fouls, but Reggie Miller wants it all to stop.<\/p>\n
Gilgeous-Alexander has almost single-handedly turned the Oklahoma City Thunder into an NBA villain<\/a> with his supposed \u201cfoul-baiting,\u201d a reputation which has followed him for awhile now, dating back at least to last year\u2019s postseason<\/a>, when ESPN\u2019s Doris Burke tagged SGA with the label of \u201cfree-throw merchant<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n But in an appearance on\u00a0The Dan Patrick Show<\/a> ahead of Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals, Miller suggested that the controversy around SGA\u2019s style of play was overblown by \u201cpodcasters\u201d and not based in reality.<\/p>\n \u201cI understand we\u2019ve got to have this conversation, but \u2026 people have way too much time, because it\u2019s SGA\u2019s job to play the game of basketball,\u201d Miller said. \u201cHe\u2019s not playing the game and officiating the game. So be more upset at the officials and how they have called it. He\u2019s not blowing the whistle for himself.\u201d<\/p>\n Miller then noted that SGA\u2019s free-throw average per game is actually down from the regular season, and suggested that those observing any unreasonable grifting from the Thunder star may not, as the kids say, truly know ball.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is below his average, his season average,\u201d Miller said. \u201cPeople think he\u2019s going to the free-throw line 15 times a game. He\u2019s only going eight times, people. So podcasters, y\u2019all just need to stop. He\u2019s playing the game of basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Of course, given that Burke was one of the first national commentators to take aim at SGA\u2019s controversial style of pay in the context of Oklahoma City\u2019s team success, the notion that the criticism is coming from anonymous online critics is silly.<\/p>\n But whether SGA is truly more of a grifter than other modern NBA stars is certainly up for debate. Miller believes he is not, even listing Luka Doncic as an example that is more damaging to team success.<\/p>\n Miller also raised another example by way of defending SGA, claiming that SGA\u2019s polish and excellence as a player is under-appreciated because of people\u2019s focus on his foul-drawing. The redundant analysis, Miller said, was never given to all-time greats with similar styles, such as Michael Jordan.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not like Luka getting up every play, complaining to the officials, staying back, hanging back,\u201d Miller explained.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time (SGA) falls to the floor on a non-call, who has the advantage now? The opposing team. It\u2019s a five-on-four. Make them pay. They\u2019re not making them pay because he doesn\u2019t get up complaining. He gets up and runs back.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he\u2019s built up goodwill with the officials. People need to stop this. I\u2019m serious. For as much hate as a two-time MVP gets, this guy has a polished game. People weren\u2019t saying this about MJ. MJ was going to the free-throw line, MJ never complained.\u201d<\/p>\n Any comparison to Jordan is likely to appear absurd at face value, but Miller\u2019s larger point is clearly to put SGA\u2019s style and substance in the context of NBA history. And as a Hall of Fame player and longtime commentator, that is his job.<\/p>\n If Miller is willing to go to bat so strongly for Gilgeous-Alexander, perhaps the tide can eventually turn toward focusing on the greatness in his game rather than solely the less aesthetically pleasing plays.<\/p>\n The post Reggie Miller wants \u2018podcasters\u2019 to tone down Shai Gilgeous-Alexander criticism: \u2018People weren\u2019t saying this about MJ\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Awful Announcing<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The entire NBA world is ablaze once again with chatter around reigning two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":666912,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[76000,355,6402,273016,97926,209271,6407,99,234356],"class_list":["post-666911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-doris-burke","tag-nba","tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","tag-playing-the-game","tag-podcasters","tag-reggie-miller","tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","tag-sports","tag-the-dan-patrick-show"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666911\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/666912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}